Lead Software Developer - AI-Driven Public Sector Tech

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; England; On-site; GBP 56,000 - 69,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Industry-leading pension

Salary banding by location

Job summary

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) DDTS is seeking a Lead Developer to guide multidisciplinary teams in delivering secure, scalable government digital services. You will own complex software delivery, shape modern development practices, and leverage AI-assisted coding tools to boost speed and quality while maintaining rigorous engineering standards.

You will review designs, drive architectural decisions, and coordinate with senior stakeholders and suppliers to ensure

Qualifications

• Ability to lead a team of software developers and communicate with senior stakeholders.
• Experience with AI-assisted development tools to improve productivity and quality.
• Knowledge of secure software development practices and OWASP alignment.

Responsibilities

• A dedication to learn new technologies and to explore new industry concepts, including AI‑assisted software development tools.
• Leading more junior developers on the team, including both permanent staff and suppliers, translating requirements into viable system designs.
• Putting users first, identifying needs based on evidence, developing services to meet those needs, and engaging in meaningful interactions and relationships with users.
• Create code that is open by default and easy for others to reuse.
• Working with common Defra technologies including Node.js, and PostgreSQL, applying knowledge and experience to investigate and resolve issues and establishing relationships and embedding ways of working across projects.
• Demonstrating a strong understanding of secure software development practices, including the use of vulnerability scanning tools and alignment with OWASP standards and principles.
• Supporting teams in the responsible use of AI‑assisted coding tools, ensuring appropriate human oversight, code quality, security and compliance with Defra standards.

Skills

Leadership & mentoring

Clear communication

Task management

Clean coding

Software architecture

AI-assisted tooling

CI/CD tooling

Tools

Node.js

PostgreSQL

GitHub

Azure

AWS

Jenkins

Git

Job description

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) DDTS is seeking a Lead Developer to guide multidisciplinary teams in delivering secure, scalable government digital services. You will own complex software delivery, shape modern development practices, and leverage AI-assisted coding tools to boost speed and quality while maintaining rigorous engineering standards.

You will review designs, drive architectural decisions, and coordinate with senior stakeholders and suppliers to ensure